Have you ever looked at the yearbook and wondered who took all of those magnificent pictures? Or found a picture of yourself you like, but you don’t know who took it? Here’s the answer: our Heritage Snapshots photographer, Mrs. Michelle Petteys.
Mrs. Petteys is one of the Spanish teachers here at Heritage High School. She’s married and has two children, one of which helped strengthen her love for photography. She graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Spanish, and a minor in International Studies.
Her first teaching job was at Lakeview Middle School, where she taught Spanish until they dropped the program. She taught social studies for a year, and then came here to Heritage, where she currently teaches Spanish to students from sophomores through seniors while doing Heritage Snapshots as a hobby. “They’re really almost two separate jobs. Like, they’re very different,” she said.
She started this hobby by taking photos of her son’s events. He was a sports player, and since she already went to the events to support him, she bought an expensive camera and learned to use it so she could have pictures. The Journalism teacher at the time, Mr. Engle, saw her pictures, and decided to have her get pictures for the yearbook in exchange for a free yearbook at the end of the year.
“And after that, it just grew bigger and bigger. I used to post pictures on my own page, but now I have a separate one for Heritage Snapshots,” she explained.
She runs three Instagram accounts as well as two Facebook accounts. One of each are her personal, and the others are her Heritage Snapshot accounts, where she posts all of the amazing pictures she takes of everyone. She also runs her own “small business,” where she helps seniors and couples get their photos for a bit cheaper than what they would have at a large sized photography company. Despite everything she does, she doesn’t look for fame or more recognition. She would describe herself as hardworking, determined, and passionate about what she does, which helps fuel her motivation for taking pictures every day.
If you’d like to see more about her, you can go to her website www.heritagesnapshots.com, or you can follow her social media. Her Facebook is “Heritage Snapshots,” and her Instagram is “Heritage.Snapshots2.”
